Collage Trouble
by TrekkieL
Summary: Jack and Ianto, two of Torchwood Collage's newest students, try to fit in. Ianto isn't the best at it, and is soon bullied. Janto ensues. Written by me and the beautiful FeeblePlatypus :)


**Another fanfic by me and the perfect FeeblePlatypus! The first and every other paragraph are hers, the second and every other are mine :) Enjoy:**

A sixteen year old Ianto Jones stepped off a train and onto the platform below him. He was holding a large suitcase and a rucksack was flung over his shoulder. Today was his first day at college in Cardiff. His parents couldn't make it to see him off apparently, work commitments or something. Ianto hated it when they left him like this, like they had done for his birthday for the past three years. He sighed and walked in the direction of the college.

On the opposite side of Cardiff, a 17 year old Jack Harkness, with a small rucksack on his back, got off the bus. Jack was a runaway. Apparently, coming out to his parents wasn't his brightest idea and his parents were less than nice to him from then on. Jack couldn't stand it, and had left. They probably wouldn't even report him missing, Jack thought sadly as he made his way to the college he had heard about.

After a good half an hour of walking, Ianto reached the iron gates of the college. The sign in the front gardens read 'HUB college: Achieve Excellence.'. The gates did not seem to be open. Ianto looked at his watch. It was still twenty minutes until the gates opened to new arrivals. He sat himself down on the low stone wall that ran along the edge of the college and waited. Down the street, he could see another figure walking towards the building.

As Jack approached the gates of the college, he saw another figure sat on a wall outside the gates. Curious, he sat down besides him.

"Hey, Jack Harkness. And you are?" Jack asked. The boy looked up.

"Jones, Ianto Jones." The boy replied.

"Good to meet you Jones, Ianto Jones." Jack smiled. Ianto laughed a little. "So, you new here?" Ianto nodded. "Me too."

Ianto liked the look of this Jack boy. He was fairly tall, dark sticky up hair, tanned skin and a strong American accent.

"You from America then?" Ianto asked, hoping to start up a conversation. Jack smiled.

"Is it that obvious?" He laughed. Ianto smiled, a genuine one, not like the ones he'd been giving people lately. "Yeah, I just moved here actually"

"I've lived here all my life." Ianto smiled.

"I can tell with that beautiful accent." Jack smiled.

"You like it here then? So far, that is." Ianto asked.

"Wales, yes. But since we moved, my family have been falling apart." Jack sighed. Ianto looked concerned.

"Do you want to talk about it, or would you rather not? I mean, you don't even know me, I'm just a stranger outside a school, you don't have to tell me anything." Ianto said, concern obvious in his voice. He was surprised at how fast he had taken to trusting Jack already. Normally it took him a while to build up trust, after what had happened at his old school.

"I like you Jones, Ianto Jones." Jack announced suddenly. "I feel I can really trust you. Like you're a friend." Jack smiled.

"Friend? Sure." Ianto nodded.

"Homophobic parents." Jack muttered, but Ianto heard him.

"Homophobic? You mean, you're gay?" Ianto asked.

"And this is the part where you get up and leave me. Nice knowing you Ianto." Jack mumbled.

"I'm not leaving." Ianto smiled.

Jack looked up.

"You're not?" Ianto smiled again.

"Nope. I had the same problem last year, I've learnt that it's the worst feeling in the world when people are disgusted by who you are." He looked Jack straight in the eye, and Jack knew that he knew what he was feeling.

"You had the same thing? So you're gay too?"

"I'm bi" Said Ianto, knowing that he had already lifted a huge weight in their friendship.

A teacher walked out of the school and over to the gates before unlocking them and smiling down at the boys.

"Ianto and Jack?" She asked. Both boys nodded. "Very good, follow me."

The boys picked up their bags as the woman pushed open the iron gates and walked through onto a gravel path surrounded by green grass. Ianto looked at Jack's rucksack with confusion.

"Is that all you've brought?"

"Yeah... I left in a kinda hurry yesterday."

The boys dropped the conversation and followed the woman to the school.

"My names Miss Carter. I'm the deputy head teacher here. I'll take you to meet Mr Manger, the head teacher." She explained. Jack and Ianto just nodded, Jack watching Ianto the whole time.

Half an hour later, all students had arrived and were sitting in the main hall. The head teacher stood in front of the pupils and hushed them. Slowly but surely, the noise level died down.

"The first thing I shall do, as you are all so desperate to know," His voice boomed out across the room "Is dorms and who will be in them." Jack and Ianto looked at each other hopefully.

"Gwen Cooper, Toshiko Sato and Mary Arcateenian are in dorm 35." He called. The three girls walked to the front, received their key, and left.

"Rhys Williams, Eugene Jones and John Hart, dorm 36." The boys stood, collected their key and left, just as the girls had.

"Suzie Collesto, Martha Jones and Diane Holmes, dorm 37." The same again.

"Jack Harkness, Owen Harper and Ianto Jones, dorm 38."

"Yes!" Jack and Ianto shouted and hi fived before receiving their key with Owen and making their way to their dorm.

On the way down to the dormitories, the boys got to know Owen, as they would be sharing a room for the next two years. He wasn't from Wales, he had an English accent.

"So, Owen. Why'd you move to Wales?" Jack asked

"Well, it seemed like the best place for me to pursue my medical training. This college has the best medical exam pass rate in UK so I thought I'd give it a shot."

"Medical training? You want to be a doctor?" Ianto asked. Owen smiled.

"Yeah. Have you met Toshiko?" He asked suddenly. Ianto and Jack shook their heads.

"Friend of yours?" Jack asked.

"No... Not really... Well, I like her."

"She's the one in dorm 35 right?" Said Ianto, his excellent memory never failing.

"Yeah, that's her, with Gwen and Mary."

"You know them too?" Jack asked Owen.

"I know Gwen, not Mary though."

"How'd you know Gwen?" Asked Ianto out of interest.

"She's my Ex... We went out in year eleven." Said Owen

"Ah." Ianto smiled knowingly.

"Who broke up with who?" Jack asked.

"Me... I caught her cheating with that Rhys Williams guy." Owen sighed.

"I had a girlfriend..." Ianto frowned. "Her name was Lisa. She was in a traffic accident and had to have some robotic limbs. She met someone at the hospital, and she dumped me for him." Ianto sighed.

Jack put his arm around Ianto's shoulders, he was obviously saddened by the memory of his past girlfriend.

They reached door 38 and Jack fitted the key into the slot. As they swung the door open, they looked inside. It was fairly big, definitely enough room for all three of them. There were three single beds, side by side in the room, each about a metre apart.

"Awesome! Bagsey the bed closest to the bathroom!" Jack shouted, throwing his bag on said bed.

"I'll take the middle one." Ianto smiled, sitting down on the end of it.

"I don't care." Owen muttered, dumping his bags and looking around. "We have a tv guys." Owen pointed out, looking at the small flat screen tv on top of a chest of drawers.

"Great!" Jack smiled, stepping up on the bed and jumping on it. "Come on, Yan!" Jack laughed.

Ianto laughed. "What are you, three?" He asked jokingly, but climbed up onto the bed anyway. Owen rolled his eyes at the two boys jumping around together on the bed. Owen dumped his bags on the bed closest to the window, leaving Ianto with the bed in the middle.

"Oh come on, Owen! Live a little!" Jack laughed, absentmindedly taking Ianto's hand as he jumped. Ianto either didn't notice or didn't care.

"What? And break the bed? No thanks. I don't need to pay for that!" Owen moaned, rummaging around to see how much storage they had.

"Owen... Mini-fridge... Over there..." Ianto pointed out as he bounced. He and jack both jumped off the bed and sat down on the floor for a moment.

"Oh, awesome!" Owen said as he walked over to it. It currently had nothing in, but they could easily buy stuff.

"I am starving, who wants to go down to the canteen with me?" Jack asked.

"I'll go with you." Ianto smiled. "What about you Owen?" Ianto asked.

"You might bump into Toshiko." Jack grinned. Ianto elbowed Jack playfully, telling him not to wind Owen up.

"I'm starving, and you say nothing to Tosh! Understand?" Owen pointed at the two boys. Both boys nodded and they all made their way to the canteen.

Jack, Ianto and Owen walked into the canteen. It was not too full, but there was a fair few people in there.

"Oh look, let's go sit with them three" Owen said, gesturing over to where Gwen, Toshiko and Mary were sitting. "Remember, not a word to Tosh, or I'll kill you." He said to the other two.

"Hey ladies. Mind if we join you?" Jack asked the girls.

"Sure." Gwen shrugged. Jack patted Ianto's shoulder and sat down besides Gwen and Ianto. Owen sat opposite tosh next to Mary.

"Rhys will be back in a moment." Gwen announced.

"I'm gonna get food. Anyone coming." Owen asked.

"I'll come," Jack and tosh both said in unison. Ianto stayed out and watched as Jack left.

Gwen smiled at Ianto.

"I didn't see you with anyone this morning, only Jack. Where were your parents?" She asked.

"They couldn't come. Work got in the way." Ianto mumbled in reply.

"They couldn't take one day off work to see their son off to college?"

"I'd rather not talk about it, if that's okay." Said Ianto, trying to move off the topic.

"Aawww, I;m sorry, did I hurt your feelings?" Said Gwen in mock apology. Ianto flinched. "Mummy and daddy wanted to get rid of you as soon as possible huh?" She said, still using the patronising voice.

Ianto remained speechless. Mary laughed.

"It must be true then!" Gwen grinned.

The girls were still giggling when the others came back from getting food.

"What's so funny?" Toshiko asked, looking at the girls and smiling.

"Oh, nothing, it doesn't matter." Said Mary, brushing it off lightly. Jack looked at Ianto, who was looking down not saying anything.

"You okay, Yan?" He whispered. Ianto looked up at Jack.

"Yeah, I'm fine" He said. The last thing he wanted was for Jack to make a big deal out of this, I mean, it was expected. He couldn't be friends with everyone.

After dinner, Owen went somewhere with Tosh, he didn't say where, and Jack went back to the dorm with Ianto. Their meal had been uncomfortable, Gwen and Mary smirking at Ianto every so often. Jack had noticed.

Once inside the dorm, Jack turned to Ianto.

"What's wrong? Why did those girls keep laughing at you?" Jack asked. Ianto shrugged. "Come on, Yan! You were so happy a few hours ago." Jack sighed.

"I told them my parents hadn't come to say goodbye and Gwen said my parents couldn't wait to send me off. It's nothing. I'm used to it." Ianto explained.

"Yan, that is not nothing. You've gotta tell me if someone does something like that, okay?" Jack sounded genuinely concerned.

"Honestly, Jack, it doesn't matter, I can handle it." Ianto said, turning to unpack his bag.

"Ianto." Jack grabbed his arm. Ianto turned around to face him and Jack looked him straight in the eye. "You gotta talk to me."

"Alright... I'm sorry." Ianto muttered and turned to unpack his bag again. Jack sighed. If Ianto didn't want to talk, he wouldn't force him to, but one day, Jack swore he would find out the truth about what happened in Ianto's previous school. If Ianto was used to bullying, then this was a problem.

A few weeks later, Jack and Ianto were alone in the dorm again. Owen had been out a lot with Toshiko lately, they had become really good friends.

"I'm off to the shop to buy some coffee and snacks. Anything particular you want?" Asked Ianto, pulling on his shoes.

"You buy some crisps?" Jack asked hopefully.

"Sure." Ianto smiled at Jack. "I'll be gone fifteen minutes, top." He said as he left the room.

Ianto spent ten minutes in the shop, looking for crisps, some cans of Pepsi and some random packets of sweets he found quite appealing. He also bought some other stuff, which was slightly healthier, and was making his way back to the dorm when he bumped into Adam and John, friends of Gwen Cooper. They stood in front of Ianto, blocking his way.

"Hey eye-candy." John grinned, looking Ianto up and down. Ianto immediately felt uncomfortable.

"Please move." Ianto replied. Neither boy obliged.

"I said move, please." Ianto said a little louder. The boys smirked. "I'm sorry, do you have a problem?" He asked.

"Not particularly, no." Adam said. Ianto sighed. He knew what was coming next. He thought he might as well try and get it over with. He tried to push through the two boys, but they grabbed onto his arms and pulled him back.

The bullies let go and Adam punched Ianto hard in the face, causing his lip to split and bleed.

"We don't like f*ggots in our school." John circled around Ianto. "Like poison in the lake. Throw one drop in and it affects everything." He snarled, kneeing Ianto in the stomach. Ianto cried out.

He lay on the floor, unable to move. He remembered all the memories from his past like this, surrounded by people disgusted by who you are, punishing you for it. Adam stamped on Ianto's leg, hard. Pain seared through his body, from his leg to his stomach and his head. He knew this would go on for a while.

"Come on, let's go." John growled eventually. To Ianto's relief, the two boys left. Ianto sat up, wincing at the injuries that would obviously leave bruises. He wiped to blood from his lip with his sleeve and made his way back to the dorm.

He opened the door and hoped to at least hide in the bathroom for a few hours, but Jack saw him enter the room. The smile Jack wore when he usually greater Ianto faded when he saw the state of Ianto and his expression of pure horror and concern made Ianto's heart sink.

"Ianto, oh my-"

"Jack, please. Leave it." Ianto cut him off, sighing. He walked in the direction of the bathroom, limping slightly.

"Yan, you said you would talk to me." Jack said, standing up.

"Jack..." Ianto sighed. He didn't know what he wanted. He wanted to talk to Jack, to tell him about everything, but he didn't want to seem selfish. He didn't want to loose his best friend.

"Yan? Who did this?" Jack asked, stepping forward and tilting his head as he scanned the visible injuries. A tear slid down Ianto's cheek. Ianto hated looking weak, but god! It hurt so much. Jack shushed Ianto and pulled the boy into his arms, rubbing Ianto's back softly.

"It was those friends of Gwen's... John and Adam I think" Ianto said speaking quietly, breath ragged from crying.

"What did they do to you?" Jack said, holding Ianto by the shoulders and looking him over.

"Not much, it's not too bad honest."

"Ianto, please." Jack knew he was lying, he could see the pain in Ianto's eyes.

"They just... They were homophobic and then one of them punched me and the other one kneed me in the stomach. I could feel what else they were doing after a while." Ianto sighed. Jack frowned.

"And that's 'not much' is it?" Jack asked. Ianto shrugged and sniffed.

"I've had worse." He said.

"And what's up with your leg? You were limping as you came in." Jack asked, determined to find out what happened.

"One of them stamped on it. I don't think there will be any permanent damage, don't worry."

"Ianto..." Jack sighed. "Why didn't you tell me about your bullying problem? I wouldn't have let you go on your own! I would have gone with you and made sure no-one laid a finger on you."

"I don't need to be treated like a child, Jack!" Ianto shouted, feeling guilty at shouting at Jack.

"I'm not treating you like a child, Yan! I'm protecting you!" Jack shouted back.

"Why do you care!" Ianto yelled.

"Because I love you!" Jack burst out, before he could stop himself. He felt himself go red, his face flaming. He turned and stalked out the room, slamming the door behind him.

Ianto stood frozen on the spot. Jack loved him? Ianto had always had a small crush on Jack, now that he thought about it, a big crush. Jack loved him. He loved Jack. He loved Jack. Ianto quickly pulled the door open and ran down the corridor after Jack, ignoring the pain in his leg.

"Jack! Jack, wait!" He ran as fast as he could and caught up with the American quickly enough. "Jack, please..." Ianto grabbed his shoulder and turned him round. His eyes were pink and his face flushed, he had evidently been crying on his way down the corridor.

"Jack, I'm sorry. I... I just..." Ianto couldn't find the right words. I love you, simple as that. Instead, he brought a hand around to the back of Jack's neck and kissed his lips gently before stepping back. Jack stared at Ianto in surprise.

"Yan..." He stuttered.

"Jack, please just... Just come back, yeah? Please?"

Jack nodded. He fumbled for Ianto's hand while they walked. He found it and Ianto held on tight.

The following week was uneventful. Jack and Ianto kept their relationship a secret and Tosh and Owen had started dating. Gwen and her friends still bullied Ianto, but usually he was with Jack so they didn't try. However, when Ianto was walking to wait for Jack to catch him up, Adam, John and Gwen stopped him.

Ianto swallowed. This was only going to end one way whilst Jack was not there. He avoided eye contact and tried to keep on walking.

"Oi, eye candy!" John said "Where d'you think you're going?" He smirked. Ianto felt his stomach drop.

"I'm going back to my dorm, now please excuse me." Ianto replied. He felt a pair of hands push him into a wall. Ianto grunted as he forcefully hit the wall. John, who he discovered had thrown him against the wall, smirked evilly as he strode back and let Adam do the dirty work. Gwen watched in amusement.

Adam took a step forward, a stance ready that would most likely knock Ianto out if he punched. He drew his fist back, Ianto held his breath and turned his face away, ready for the impact. Just then, he heard a grunt from Adam and opened his eyes. Jack had appeared and had Adam's fist in his hand.

"I'm sorry," Jack whispered menacingly in his ear, "I think you picked on the wrong kid."

Ianto smiled in relief and Jack kicked Adams shin, sending the boy to the ground. Gwen ran and John turned to follow, but Jack caught his arm, yanked him back and punched him hard in the face. Jack rubbed his hands together and laughed.

"You alright?" He asked Ianto. Ianto just laughed, stepped forward and hugged Jack. Jack hugged him back.

"Thank you, Jack." He smiled. Jack rubbed Ianto's back a little and moved back, turning to the two boys on the floor, who were looking up at the two boys, confused. Jack laughed and pulled Ianto closer bringing him in for a kiss. John and Adam immediately regretted everything.


End file.
